King renews support for entrepreneurs during visit to business incubator

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday visited Al Hassan Industrial Estate where he had a first-hand look at several pilot projects that are helping provide jobs for local residents and empower young people and unleash their potentials. 

At the industrial estate, the King also visited a household appliances plant project, funded by the Governorates Development Fund (GDF), according to a Royal Court statement.  

King Abdullah ordered the creation of the JD150 million GDF in July 2012 to finance development plans for the governorates, assist in creating jobs for local residents, promote investments and ensure a fair distribution of development gains across the Kingdom.

At the beginning of the visit, the King was acquainted with the business and the achievements of the innovative business incubator at Al Hassan Industrial Estate. 

Inaugurated by King Abdullah in 2006, the incubator centre, affiliated with the Jordan Innovation Centres (JICs), is working to support entrepreneurship and creativity through tapping the potentials of young people and transforming their ideas into development initiatives and business ventures.    

Touring the business incubator centre, the King was acquainted with projects that benefited from the JICs services across the Kingdom. The agency has so far helped launch 29 companies in different sectors, while several other start-ups are still in the making. 

At the end of the tour, King Abdullah expressed his full support for the projects and gave directives to provide the proper environment to ensure their success, emphasising the role of both the GDF and the King Abdullah II Fund for Development and their ability to transform pioneering ideas into productive income-generating projects. 

The showcased model projects are operating in the areas of solar energy, water treatment systems, manufacture of auto spare parts, IT, minerals, handicrafts and food industries. 

Entrepreneurs, who initiated the projects, took turns to make presentations on their projects and opportunities that their businesses created for the local communities, highlighting their aspirations for future development and gradual expansion, the statement said. 

Reham Gharbiyeh, JICs executive director, noted that the agency is currently running five business incubators in addition to Irbid —  Karak, Maan, Mafraq, Jerash and Madaba, adding that it is currently supporting 35 projects at these centres. These projects are “60 to 80 per cent successful”, she said. 

Grants for the projects are extended through the GDF, in coordination with Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) under certain conditions, while self-funded projects are welcome and they receive other forms of assistance, Gharbiyeh was quoted as saying.

Ahmad Jaafreh, who has launched a GPS project, Firas Abu Koushok, who has an auto parts factory, and Hiyam Tawalbeh, who has a mosaic handicraft business, highlighted their projects and the support they are getting from the JICs. 

The household appliance plant was built at a cost of JD2 million, 57 per cent of which was provided by the GDF. Its owner Hesham Thabbah said the plant has so far provided jobs for 35 local residents, noting that it should provide 300 jobs after around two years when its expansion plans are completed. 

The plant’s overall products are currently exported to the Syrian and Iraqi markets while efforts are under way to penetrate other markets, Thabbah pointed out, adding that the project’s added value amounts to 75 per cent. 

In an interview by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, JEDCO’s Director General Yarub Qudah, said the project is the first of those funded by the GDF, adding that the corporation has financed 57 projects through the GDF whose total contribution to projects amounts currently to JD37 million. These projects will provide around 1,875 jobs for Jordanian youths, he added. 

While in Irbid, the King, accompanied by HH Prince Mired, president of the Hashemite Charity Society for Soldiers with Special Needs, visited retired first warrant officer Yousef Shatanawi and checked on his health and living conditions. 

Shatanawi, who joined the Public Security Department in 1970, retired as first warrant officer after a traffic accident in 1983.  

“The visit came in line with the King’s commitment to maintaining contact with retired military servicemen, in appreciation of their role and contributions to the country,” the Royal Court said. 

The King also met with dignitaries from the northern governorate at a lunch banquet held by former minister Abdul Razzaq Tbeishat. 

During the meeting, the King discussed with the community leaders regional developments and several local issues. 

Stressing that governorates’ development is a top priority, he emphasised the need for collective efforts and the importance of drawing investments to northern governorates to help eliminate poverty and unemployment. He also called on Irbid’s citizens to participate in drawing up local policies and to define priorities that can help improve their living conditions. 

The attendees highlighted the main needs of the governorate, especially in terms of services and development plans.